UPDATE (2250 BST): I am fully aware that when I say below that we haven’t won a game at KM since the first game of the season I mean LEAGUE games. Feel free to email me with more points of pedantry, so I can flood your email box with animal porn.
Now THAT’S more like it. It’s a shame that Fisher Price 1 John Fisher 0 wasn’t more, as it would have sent a real middle fingered message to the rest of the division. As it was though, this was professional enough from start to finish. Solid tackling, having a clue what to do with the ball once we had it and snuffing out a very highly rated attack to boot. Just like the good old days.
It was one of those sort of games where in the cold light of day we weren’t going to lose. Yes, I would have preferred it if Barry “the new Dennis Wise” Moore’s free kick right on HT had hit the stringy bit of the goal as opposed to the white painted wooden thing. I would have certainly preferred it if we could have snuck something away late on, so that we could spend the last 10 minutes gloating over Franchise. But this is our first win at KM since the first game of the season (seriously), and I bet you would have taken it before the game started as well.
Quite simply though, I didn’t think much of Fi$her at all. Come to think of it, I haven’t thought that much of the “big” teams in this division. H&R were there for the taking, and I certainly didn’t think Rickay were special. And aren’t Heybridge supposed to be a big side as well? It’s the smaller sides in the division that have caused us problems, and even then much (most?) of it is self-inflicted.
Which probably rubbishes a theory that I had last month, that of going for the moneybagged approach. It’s clicking more and more each game, and quite simply it’s the confidence thing. Perhaps the balance has been finally struck to an effective degree? The way that the players and DA clapped us after the game said it all….
Anyway, time is short. So…
Plus points: Probably everything stated in the first paragraph. Oh, and Dwayne Plummer as well.
Minus points: Think we’re still a little bit less sharp up front than we need to be.
The referee’s a…..: Good grief. Look up the word “inconsistent” in the dictionary and there’ll be a picture of him chickening out of sending off their players. Ably abetted by his lino who decided to give offsides at random, regardless of accuracy or advantage.
Them: Big, physical with it, attempted a bit of the intimidation but it didn’t exactly come off. Their #5 especially, who is probably spending this evening back at his usual job as a doorman on some moody New Kent Road boozer. Can deffo see why they and H&R discussed the weather in vigourous terms after their game.
Incidentally, I should point out at this time that I used to watch Fisher occasionally when we were in the Prem and gameless. Then, they were about the level we were last season, although a bit on a downward spiral. They had fuck all support even when they were playing in Rotherhithe, averaging about 50-70 per game. Curiously, a lot of their facilities closed down as far back as 1999, including quite a big bar area, which wasn’t the worst bar I’ve ever set foot in (in fact, it was quite newly built). Which makes their current moneyed state even more remarkable. Although he left some years earlier, they had a manager called Dogan Arif who, if this is anything to go by could sort out Rio Ferdinand. Believe he went to jail for drug trafficking, and a quick bit of research suggests he was holed up in Northern Cyprus as recently as 2003. I wonder if Fisher’s demise co-incided with his need to scarper? More to the point, I wonder if the ref today knew something we don’t?
Point to ponder: If you feel the need to argue over whether this is a better side than last year, just compare today’s result with last season. We’re certainly not too far off parity with any other team in this division. Of course, Braintree and Chelmsford may scupper that theory.
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Lenny Piper returned. I seem to remember him doing a goal-line clearance in the Intertoto at Brighton all them years ago where he turned away a certain goal and collided rather painfully with the post. Anyway, he didn’t have nearly an effect today, though it was pointed out to me that he sounded just like a gangster’s mate. There is NO connection with Mr Arif. (2) Our first win at KM since the beginning of the season. Worth repeating it again, just in case you’re feeling slightly complacent. (3) How fucking slow was the TE tea-bar queue? And the tea was crap. Personally, I blame the West Bankers, who demand inferior products…
Anything else? Yeah. Was today flag day? I saw an Ulster/NI one today, which I’ve never seen before. Either DA’s family came over for the day or somebody got whiff that our opponents started life as a Catholic boys club.
So, was it worth it? Oh yes.
In a nutshell: Here, fishy fishy fishy….
And finally: As you heard over the PA at half time, it’s my birthday on Tuesday. And I won’t be at Bromley, so I’d like one of you kind souls to write me up a match report. Please?